Disciplinary and grievance hearings
Employment law advice on disciplinary hearings
Employment law encourages employers to use a formal procedure that includes investigation of serious poor performance or poor conduct of an employee after an informal attempt to settle any dispute has been made. The procedure should be an impartial way of assessing evidence and arguments presented by the employee and employer. Employment tribunals recognise that a disciplinary hearing should be part of a formal disciplinary process and that the employer or employee can ask for this process.
Code of practice
Employment tribunals recognise the procedure set out by the ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) Code of Practice, March 2015. Regardless of the size of the business or organisation, if an employer acts unreasonably in not following a valid disciplinary or capability procedure, they could face enhanced costs at an employment tribunal.
Under employment law the principles of a valid procedure should include:
- – being fair and consistent
- – investigation to get as much information as possible
- – allowing a relevant person to attend a disciplinary or grievance meeting to support the employee
- – keeping written records
- – giving everyone a chance to have their say before making a decision
- – making a decision as soon as possible, and
- – allowing an appeal by the employee.
If both sides agree, mediation can be used at any stage. The mediator could be from within the organisation or outside. An employment tribunal is likely to accept adjustments to a fair and consistent procedure for a small business. So, a manager of a small business could manage the process on their own.
A disciplinary hearing or meeting should be held as soon as possible. Both parties can bring evidence and witnesses to support their case and also ask questions.
Where the procedure could result in a formal warning or other disciplinary hearing action, employment law gives employees have a right to be accompanied at the hearing by a companion. Employment law solicitors usually do not accompany employees at this stage. The companion could be a fellow worker or a trade union representative or official. After a capability hearing, employment law solicitors would advise an employer to give the employee opportunities to improve, a final written warning or in severe cases dismissal. An appeal should always be afforded to employees.
Grievance
When an employee has a complaint about the employer or circumstances in the workplace, then he or she can lodge a grievance.
The best employment lawyers would advise a worker to:
– raise the grievance as soon as possible and
– take any actions expected of them.
An employee’s complaint could involve: terms of employment, pay and working conditions, disagreements with co-workers, discrimination, or statutory employment rights.
News stories related to disciplinary and grievance hearings
Executive faced a ruined career after botched sacking
An advanced mental health practitioner was recently awarded over £60,000 after he was sacked without a fair process. An employment tribunal found that York Council wrongly and unfairly dismissed Mr A Gormley, a senior employee with a 22-year work service. Following a disciplinary investigation into allegations of sexist comments in March 2023, and an appeal, …
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Top analyst sacked for not eating his wife’s lunch
An employment tribunal backed a global bank in sacking a senior executive after fiddling expenses for a meal. Citibank sacked senior analyst Szabolcs Fekete in December 2022 after he claimed for a pasta meal, sandwiches, and drinks for him and his partner, during a two-day business trip to Amsterdam. After Mr Fekete lodged claims against …
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CBI scandal: what if your employee is accused of a serious crime?
The CBI has been rocked by accusations of rape and sexual misconduct. With its reputation in tatters, members leaving by the dozen, the organisation has had to suspend all activity until a vote on its future in June. So what would you do for your organisation or business if an employee has been accused of …
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Sweary BBC presenter sacked for misconduct, not depression
A radio DJ who claimed that the BBC sacked him because of his mental health issues has lost his employment tribunal case. James Hazell was found to have been dismissed fairly by BBC Radio Suffolk for misconduct including sexual comments to female colleagues, and threatening and abusive language. Mr. Hazell had claimed that he was …
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Disciplining Gary Lineker – was the employer right?
On March 9, the BBC suspended a top sports presenter, Gary Lineker, because of a tweet criticising government policy. In a row about BBC political impartiality, director general, Tim Davie, removed Gary Lineker from presenting Match of the Day. He had to reverse that decision. So, was the BBC ever entitled to take serious disciplinary …
Continue reading “Disciplining Gary Lineker – was the employer right?”
Employers are punished for sacking bad workers
A judge slapped down an employer who failed to follow a fair procedure when sacking a nurse for being racist. In another case, where an employee missed over 800 of his shifts, an employer also shot themselves in the foot for not knowing about the importance of having a fair procedure. After a hearing in …
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Managers’ confused performance assessment leads to big payout
A well-known clothes store’s flawed promotion and assessment process landed them with a £96,208 judgement at an employment tribunal. Bristol employment tribunal upheld the claim of 56-year-old knitwear designer Rachel Sunderland that Superdry Plc discriminated against her because of her age and subjected her to unfair dismissal. Rachel Sunderland was a respected specialist from September …
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Frustrated manager’s decision leads to unfair dismissal
An employer lost an unfair dismissal case after summarily sacking an employee rather than go through a fair procedure. London Central Employment Tribunal found in favour of the unfair dismissal claim against plant and pet retailer, M G Seven by delivery driver, Andrew Harris. In his judgement, Employment Judge Adkin cut Harris’s compensation award because …
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Excellent work – you’re still sacked
Can an employer sack an employee with an excellent work record because of one instance of gross misconduct? Thames Water tried to do it in their terms but employment judges told them that they were wrong. Thames Water sacked a senior employee after 34 years of unblemished service for one indiscretion they saw as gross …
Employee theft grievance taken to the top
Confusion over employment law led to a top company making an embarrassing public climbdown. Tesco was forced to withdraw its accusation of theft against a worker after he staged a 21-hour public protest. The accused worker, security guard, Adama Jammeh, climbed up to the girders in the roof space in Tesco Extra in Reading, in …
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New law on using personal data
New legislation will greatly increase the compliance burden on employers when they manage employee personal information. Failure to comply can result in a maximum fine of 4% of their organisation’s global turnover. Employers will now have to use clear language and explicitly seek the permission of employees and others about keeping and processing sensitive personal …
Job reference lands employer in court
An employee cannot prevent a public sector employer from mentioning disciplinary issues in a job reference, according to a recent court case. Judges ruled in AB –V- Chief Constable, High Court 2014 that an employee’s disciplinary record should be known to a future employer if the post was in the public sector. A police officer …
How to miss ‘workplace penalties’ during the World Cup
ACAS has released guidelines on how to deal with employees keen to watch the England team during the World Cup. The football competition fest, based in Brazil and featuring 32 teams, lasts for over a month starting on 12 June 2014. Whilst ACAS guidance is not mandatory, the employment tribunals do pay heed to ACAS …
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